Listen free for 30 days

  • Heart of Darkness: A Signature Performance by Kenneth Branagh

  • Written by: Joseph Conrad
  • Narrated by: Kenneth Branagh
  • Length: 3 hrs and 49 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (364 ratings)

1 credit a month, good for any title to download and keep.
The Plus Catalogue—listen all you want to thousands of Audible Originals, podcasts, and audiobooks.
$14.95 a month plus applicable taxes after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.
Heart of Darkness: A Signature Performance by Kenneth Branagh cover art

Heart of Darkness: A Signature Performance by Kenneth Branagh

Written by: Joseph Conrad
Narrated by: Kenneth Branagh
Try for $0.00

$14.95 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $18.74

Buy Now for $18.74

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.

Publisher's Summary

Prose that demands to be read aloud requires a special kind of narrator. For the Audible Signature Classics edition of Joseph Conrad’s atmospheric masterpiece, Heart of Darkness, we called upon four-time Academy Award nominee Kenneth Branagh.

Branagh’s performance is riveting because he reads as though he’s telling a ghost story by a campfire, capturing the story’s sense of claustrophobia, while hinting at the storyteller Marlow’s own creeping madness. Heart of Darkness follows Captain Marlow into the colonial Congo where he searches for a mysterious ivory trader, Kurtz, and discovers an evil that will haunt him forever.

With this landmark work, Conrad is credited with bringing the novel into the twentieth century; we think Branagh brings it into the twenty-first.

Stay tuned for more one-of-a-kind performances from actors David Hyde Pierce, Leelee Sobieski, Tim Curry, and more, only from Audible Signature Classics.

Public Domain (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

What the critics say

"Acclaimed Irish actor/director Kenneth Branagh impersonates Marlow in this recording. Admirably, while fully playing the drama, he never goes overboard. He plays the tale for the great yarn that it is." ( AudioFile)

What listeners say about Heart of Darkness: A Signature Performance by Kenneth Branagh

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    238
  • 4 Stars
    75
  • 3 Stars
    28
  • 2 Stars
    12
  • 1 Stars
    11
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    266
  • 4 Stars
    36
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    3
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    201
  • 4 Stars
    61
  • 3 Stars
    29
  • 2 Stars
    14
  • 1 Stars
    9

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

This book is a work of art in literature...

#Audible1. Conrad’s insights and ability to convey meaning and depth of human conquest from the perspective of hunter and the hunted...invokes within us, a view into darkness of our soul. It is only through the enlightenment through the medium of literature are we left enriched and placed in a mode of reflection....the Congo has never really recovered from the blanket of exploitation.
The narrator Kenneth Branagh takes us through this journey - the way Conrad may have envisioned this story is told...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

It was okay

This book was just alright, honestly. I wouldn’t read it again. It’s interesting to analyze it from a metaphorical perspective. Quite a bit of controversial dialogue, I’d say! The narrator was great, though.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Apocalypse Now

This must be what apocalypse now was stolen from. Very cool.
Great performance would have be better if we had more explanation.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Sir Kenneth Brannagh

I've listened to thousands of hours of audio books and including a reading of this book and a previous narrator. The talent of this narrator brought this tale to life. He gave the work the intensity it deserves.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic

What a great novel!!! Kenneth Branagh is fantastic. So impressive and wonderfull experience. One of the greatest book of the early XX century.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Amazing!

I have wanted to read this for a long time. I’m glad I listened to it. The performance by KB was nothing short of amazing!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

wisp of grasp.

tell KB that at least one reader caught this Easter egg. sat and listened and saw what was written into the words.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

What a snoozefest.

Nothing remotely memorable. Too short for any real deep character development . A comment on the ever changing nature of man in the face of cruel and terrible environmental conditions . The excellent performance saves this from a one star overall.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Astounding

Listening to this title was a blast from the past. I had forgotten how much this book impacted my early teen mind when I first read it. “We live as we dream…alone”

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

outstanding Narration .

The quality of the narration pulled me right into this book. I had been meaning to read it since the movie Apocalypse Now back in the '80s. not the kind of male-centric material I normally like, but Branagj's narration made all of these characters both sympathetic and tragic.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Long_Schlong_Silver
  • Long_Schlong_Silver
  • 2018-09-27

Disgusting Revision

The text is exceptionally well recited. HOWEVER, in researching this novella I came to realize a disgusting change had taken place. The word nigger has been completely scrubbed from this reading and replaced with the word black. I find this to be appalling, as it has substantially changed the tone of the narrator's commentary on black Africans. The text is now fundamentally changed. This change was no doubt well-meaning, but implies that historical reality itself is unsuitable, offensive, and so unnecessary to understanding the literature that it warrants revision. As a consequence, just to preserve an idiotic sense of comfy politeness during the reading of a novel which largely features violent European imperialism, the editors have disarmed the reality of the text and removed it from history. I am most offended in that I would have never noticed this change had I not researched it further, giving me a false impression of the author, rhe story's contents, and its place in history. I cannot stress enough how disappointed I am by this. It was such an excellent reading, otherwise.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

345 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Darwin8u
  • Darwin8u
  • 2012-11-21

Conrad's Brilliant & Wild Novella

The novella is literature's most compellingly roaming form and Conrad absolutely owns it with Heart of Darkness. I first read Conrad in high school, with throngs of other pimply kids. I liked it sure, but didn't understand all of the conflciting currents of this brilliant story. I was re-introduced to Heart of Darkness when I recognized it in Francis Ford Coppola brilliant Apocalypse Now. During the last few years I've been on a huge Conrad kick, listening or reading to Lord Jim, Victory, The Secret Agent, Nostromo, etc.

The man is simply amazing. It is incredible to think that he could write better in his 3rd language (English) than most writers could ever hope to write in their first. In this way, he shares a lot with Nabokov.

Anyway, this is one of those few works I constantly return to for its humanity and for its inspiriation. Kenneth Branagh's reading of HoD is amazing in both its depth and nuance.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

79 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Kyle
  • Kyle
  • 2010-12-10

Great narration

This is where I wish we could give two scores, one for narration and one for writing.

I was assigned The Heart of Darkness in high school and despised every minute of it. In fact, I have often referenced it as my most-abhorred book.

As an adult, I wanted to give the book a second chance, and I figured if I didn't like it with Kenneth Branagh narrating it, there was no hope for reconciliation. I figured that four hours was short enough a time to devote to this experiment.

Branagh gets an A+. The narration is impeccable. If you like this story, you're in for a treat.

Unfortunately, I still can't stand the book. I didn't agree with Conrad's premise as a kid and nothing has changed in the interim.

But, that's just me. If you like this story or want to experience it for the first time, this is in the upper echelon of audiobooks.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

69 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for J. A.
  • J. A.
  • 2020-06-21

Censored

This is a great novel but the reader has censored some language that would be considered offensive today. This is a great disservice to the story itself. I recommend another audio version that is more faithful.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

66 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Harold
  • Harold
  • 2010-12-11

From Civilization into Darkness

The enigmatic narrator Marlowe tells his dark story of madness and despair from the deck of a ship anchored in the Thames in the harbor of London, the then world's center of commerce and civilization. It ends in the heart of madness and despair, the Congo river deep in Africa. In this short novel, which has been called one of the most important works in modern literature, Marlow's voice is that of Kenneth Branagh, one of the finest of actors today. His voice gives a complete new dimension with an interpretation on a richer more meaningful level that is impossible with just the printed word.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

53 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Michael
  • Michael
  • 2017-06-11

God is Dead (for the first time)

I had not read any Conrad until recently, and was mildly surprised Conrad had four novels on Modern Library's Top 100 list (more than any other author). Having now completed the four Conrad novels on that list (Nostromo, Lord Jim, The Secret Agent, and The Heart of Darkness) I definitely enjoyed this version of the Heart of Darkness the most, yet I did not find any of these "must reads" except to gain, first hand, a historical perspective on modernist literature.

Conrad's writing of around 1900 is essentially modern and the earliest novels I have found in which "God is dead". This is not at all explicit, but is subtly, yet distinctly, implicit. In the 1880's Nietzsche declared "God is dead" but it took a while before novels began to explore this viewpoint. I was not expecting this outlook when I started Heart of Darkness, I was expecting a dark adventure novel. I found the writing excellent, but was surprised by the modernist outlook and style elements.

Some have considered Heart of Darkness racist, as the novel clearly objectifies native Africans. I would contend that Conrad objectifies everybody in his novels. There is racism, but it is the racism of the the society and characters, not of the author. The author seems to point out the absurdity, and mindless conformity, of racism (and many other social constructs). The novels are not about story, or about character, but instead are impressionistic interpretations of the author's nihilistic existentialist world view. The author's language is rich and powerful with exaggerated and non-linear descriptions.

Sometimes a book makes a "best" list because it is truly great, sometimes because it is very good and was a creative first. I think the latter applies to these Conrad novels.

There is a strong similarity of fundamental outlook between these four novels. I am happy to have read them all, but won't recommend them all to my daughter...I will recommend Heart of Darkness.

The narration by Branagh is wonderfully perfect and this narration makes this a really wonderful first Conrad.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

39 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Amazon Customer
  • Amazon Customer
  • 2010-12-07

Highly enjoyable.

This was my first time reading Heart of Darkness. It was highly gripping, and Kenneth Branagh does a great job at narrating. I listened to the entire book in one sitting. There's not much more for me to add, because it is such a classic novella.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

39 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Sher from Provo
  • Sher from Provo
  • 2011-11-05

Dark story, much to ponder

This book is so full of symbolism that I had to listen to it twice to get the most out of it. I checked out sparknotes in between listens so as to get as much as I could out of the second listen, and it was a smart move on my part. If I had been satisfied with one time through, I would have missed the whole point of the story. It is a short book, more of a novella, which might help entice me to read it again in the future. It is a great allegory and commentary on human nature. Conrad is a great writer. I think I will ponder on this story for a long time and try to determine which character I am most like at an given time. I will also use it to analyze (not judge) those around me. It is inevitable, I think. Read this book if you enjoy stories that make you think, dig deep for hidden meanings, and analyze. It will stay with you for a long time. However, keep in mind that it was written for another era and much of the structure should not be considered or evaluated according to modern standards. It is a classic and will stand up to the test of time if the reader remembers that fact. The story itself is timeless.

I can't say enough good about narrator Kenneth Branagh. Fabulous!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

34 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Jefferson
  • Jefferson
  • 2011-10-31

The (Beautiful and Appalling) Horror!

Kenneth Branagh gives a mesmerizing reading of Heart of Darkness, bringing out all the darkly beautiful surfaces and bleakly existential undercurrents of Joseph Conrad's novella, as well as convincingly voicing all the characters, from the sensitive and scarred British Marlow to the slimy Belgian trading company men, creepy Russian disciple, and charismatic and appalling Kurtz and his ever-grieving fiance.

The book has been criticized for portraying Africans as sub-human, and it is true that Conrad (and hence Branagh) gives almost no voice to the native population, but I find in Heart of Darkness less racist condescension towards the Africans and more moral outrage towards their European colonial exploiters.

The nearly four-hour audiobook, during which Marlow recounts his journey into the Congo to find the "genius" trading agent Kurtz, quickly caught me and carried me inexorably towards "The horror! The horror!" and its haunting aftermath. It left me stunned and grimly impressed (though somehow not depressed) by its disturbing depiction of the raping of Africa by colonial powers like Belgium (taking countless tons of ivory in exchange for worthless glass beads and shabby fabrics, imposing incomprehensible laws onto the native peoples and brutally punishing them for the slightest infractions, and so on), and by its timely application to the developed world's current exploitation of the Congo ("conflict minerals") and of Africa in general (diamonds, oil and other resources). But the greatness of the novella lies in its transcending specific examples like Africa and universalizing the heart of darkness to include England in the time of the Romans and all human beings in any time, exposing the heart of darkness in all of us.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Daniel
  • Daniel
  • 2011-02-18

GREAT AUDIOBOOK!

It is tempting to see Heart of Darkness as a masterfully constructed parable on human nature (witness Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola's film adaptation, in which the action was transposed to south-east Asia) but as historian Adam Hochschild has pointed out in King Leopold's Ghost, about the king's rape of the Congo, Conrad himself was quite clear that it was based on specific events he had witnessed, saying it was "experience… pushed a little (and only very little) beyond the actual facts of the case". Despite his protestations, this is undeniably an invaluable historical document offering a glimpse into the horrific human consequences of the imperial powers' scramble for Africa as much as it is a compelling tale.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

15 people found this helpful

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for sadlobster
  • sadlobster
  • 2022-12-17

buitifully written and performed

.....but the story has aged badly. I was expecting a clearer and more unbiased insight on colonialism.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Client d'Amazon
  • Client d'Amazon
  • 2021-03-25

branagh is incredible! his performances are varied

branagh is incredible! his performances are varied and deep. a dark jewel to experience in an enrapturing confusion of time and place

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Alexandre Brunelle
  • Alexandre Brunelle
  • 2020-09-11

j'ai pas aimé

mais les goûts et les couleurs ne se discutent pas.
ça pourrait plaire à quelqu'un...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Florine Canal
  • Florine Canal
  • 2023-02-06

outstanding

Kenneth Brannagh's performance is outstanding. The narration of this novel needs clarity and this is exactly what he gives to the book. If you want/need to read "The heart of darkness", you should definetely listen to this one!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for waxnwane
  • waxnwane
  • 2023-01-23

Masterful reading of classic novella

Kenneth Branagh delivers a captivating performance of Conrad’s 1899 classic novella. This recording brings the text to life.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!